Writing Is Hard Work for An Amateur

Posted on 01/02/2015 by Grumpa Joe

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My blog posts have been few lately because of a project I began a few months ago. Last July I saw a documentary movie called America, Imagine the World Without Her? Written and directed by Dinesh D’Souza the movie is a very good chronicle of how Obama is changing America. I walked away from the film thinking D’Souza failed to answer the title question for me. I came home and wrote a movie review. I poled my readers and asked if they would like to hear my version of what the world would be like if America (USA) never existed. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of hearing my answer.

I began write a short story of what I thought might have happened if the Revolution of 1776 had failed. The intent was to make it a simple blog post. This story is not simple, there is too much history to consider. Instead of writing a bunch of boring historical facts and theorizing what would be different had they not happened is mind-boggling. My story has evolved into a novel and is absorbing me completely. I am not a novel writer, in fact, I have trouble writing short essays for this blog, but I will answer the question. The working title for my work is British American Colonies. At this point I am about forty percent complete and dreaming up plots and sub plots, with lots of characters. I have so many twists in the story, that I had to draw maps, keep character logs, and a chapter summary log to keep myself focused. I don’t know if any other writers do that kind of stuff, but I do. When you begin without an outline or any type of organized approach the story evolves as the words flow.

My goal is to complete the book by mid-year for publishing. The least I will do is self-publish on Kindle. One way or another this story is going to the public, that is, if I live long enough to make it happen. At my age anything can happen in a single heart beat.

Wish me luck.

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Is This the America I Want?

Posted on 27/08/2012 by Grumpa Joe

Ten years ago, I read a book by a little known author named Dinesh D’Souza. The book is “What is so Great About America?” I know what is good about America because I live it, but I wanted the perspective of a young man who came to America from India. He had to learn what is good the hard way. In my mind, he would re-educate me on that which I take for granted.

D’Souza’s book did not disappoint me. He learned very quickly the basic reasons the people of the world admire America, and why some want to destroy us because of our success. I won’t get into the details of the book except to say the word “LIBERTY,” plays a huge role in why America is great.

Yesterday, Peggy and I met up with a group of friends at the AMC movie-theater for the 11:45 a.m. showing of a film titled “2016: Obama’s America.”  The movie is an excellent documentary based on D’Souza’s more recent book “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.”

Dinesh D’Souza is expert at unraveling Obama’s background from Obama’s book “Dreams From My Father,” and Obama’s flowery speeches designed to mask his true intentions.  Throughout the film D’Souza explains from where Obama derives his ideas. D’Souza then ices the cake by showing us how Obama’s actions comply exactly with his policies. There is no doubt left in the viewer’s mind that the stated policy and the action are congruent.

There are some amazing scenes in the movie taken in India and Africa, in villages where people live in extreme conditions. My mind’s eye saw these scenes evolving in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and every  city in America. It is not a pretty picture to imagine yet our current direction under Obama will lead us there.

D’Souza interviews Obama’s half brother George in Africa. George seemed like a nice man although somewhat shy about answering questions. George is the antithesis of Barack who answers questions endlessly as though his goal is to run out the clock. George answered in short concise phrases. George’s answer to one question in particular stayed with me. The question asked if Kenya was better off after it broke the colonial ties from Britain. George answered by citing other African countries like South Africa where whites have led longer, and who are better off than Kenya.  (I’m sorry George, but isn’t that a bit racist?)

Another policy exposed is Obama’s desire to level the USA with the rest of the world in nuclear weapons. D’Souza displays a map of the world showing the number of nuclear warheads Obama is leading us to. The revealing graphic showed Russia with 1500 and the USA with zero.  The Muslim countries had more nuclear weapons than America.

Near the end of the film we are sitting in a classroom full of first or second graders reciting and singing praises to Obama’s greatness.

The most shocking fact came near the end; a graph of the debt America will carry in the future. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that so much debt will lead us into a standard of living equal to that of the hovels and tin shanty villages of India and Kenya.

After the movie we went to lunch where eight of us discussed the film and its messages. Some thought the movie was long others like myself thought it went like the speed of light. After our discussions I concluded those who thought it long leaned toward the hope and change concept.

If you care about America, you must see this film to learn for yourself  how Obama defines Hope and Change, then ask yourself is this the America I want?

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What Makes Obama Tick?

Posted on 20/02/2011 by Grumpa Joe

A few years ago I came across a book titled “What’s So Great About America.” That title intrigued me. It begged me to find out what it is this author thinks about my country. The author, Dinesh D’Souza, was unknown to me. His name sounded different.  Perhaps, he is a foreigner who would see America from a different perspective.  I read his book and concluded that this man was my hero. Dinesh is a foreigner, but also an American citizen. He immigrated from India, and he does have a different perspective. It is the view of someone who sees America as a place of opportunity.

D’Souza is a conservative, and worked for the Reagan administration as an advisor. He skillfully explains in his book why the muslim world hates America, and thus points out the good things about America. It seems that the Muslims hate us because we have what they dream about, LIBERTY.

My purpose today. is not to review that book, but rather his new book titled “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.”


In this work, D’Souza logically, and skillfully analyzes available data, and also Obama’s own writings. He compares the president’s actions to his words. D’Souza makes a logical analysis of the data to learn what makes Obama tick. He explores several directions before making a final conclusion about Obama’s mindset. He then superimposes Obama’s words to his action and compares these to his conclusion.  The actions and words support D’Souza’s theory one hundred percent thus making it completely plausible.

Throughout the 2008  Presidential  campaign, Obama challenged the Republicans to come up with new ideas to compete with his own new directions. He kept repeating, in a negative way ,”don’t come to me with your tired old ideas that don’t work.” Dinesh D’Souza has unraveled Obama’s vision and has convincingly  revealed that Obama’s ideas are not new. They are based on ideas dating back to the sixteen hundreds, and from his father’s thesis.

Regardless if you are liberal or conservative, if you are curious as to how Obama’s associations affect his thinking, or why he apologizes to foreign powers, or why he is bent on reducing America’s military power, or why he wants to transform America, you will find it in this inspiring analysis by Dinesh D’Souza.

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